Dance from around the world converges on the Capital Region this weekend. Three companies from three continents offer their unique interpretations of the universal language of movement. Here's a condensed guide to help you choose your itinerary.

India

The show: "Mystic India," featuring dancers, acrobats, aerialists and musicians — all decked out in a total of 750 opulent costumes

The style: Billed as "Mumbai meets New York," the show fuses elements of classical Indian dance forms, such as Kathak and Bharat Natyam; age-old Indian folk dance from villages around the country; and modern Western influences like jazz, hip-hop and ballet.

Coolness factor: Still riding the wave of those last few minutes of "Slumdog Millionaire," which ushered the addictive Bollywood beat into American fitness classes, pop music and movie theaters

Surprise element: Special visual effects conceived by the show's creator, producer and choreographer Amit Shah, who's worked in both Bollywood and Hollywood

The company: Tango Fire of Buenos Aires, formed in 2005 after the ensemble made a splash at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The company has performed throughout Europe and the United States as well as in Kuala Lumpur, China, Australia and Korea, where it was particularly popular.

The style: Characterized by close embraces, gliding steps and elegant lifts and dips. The company's repertoire focuses on two faces of tango: as it might be danced informally at a "milonga" (social dance) and as a dramatic showpiece choreographed for the stage.

Coolness factor: Perennially cool — or, more accurately, perennially hot, ever since it arose in the working-class districts of Buenos Aires in the late 19th century. It's got the grace of "Swan Lake" paired with the sexual tension of "Scandal"'s Olivia Pope and Fitzgerald Grant.

Surprise element: The chemistry. While teachers can pass on what's known as the "yeltes" (the secrets of the tango steps), in the final analysis, it's all about the electricity between two dancers.

The company: The Hungarian State Folk Ensemble, accompanied by the Folk Orchestra. Founded in 1951, the company has performed in 44 countries, for more than seven and a half million people.

The style: Typically divided into folk dances from the middle ages and those from the 18th and 19th centuries, the traditional repertoire includes men's dances with stomping, jumping and bootslapping; women's circle dances; and intricate couple's dances like the Csardas. It's all perfectly timed to the rhythms of Hungarian instruments such as the cimbalom, which has 100 open strings that are hammered with sticks.

Coolness factor: Zilch, nada, "semmi" (that's Hungarian) — but only because it doesn't get much airtime. Medieval Hungarian dance, however, was highly influenced by the country's higher-profile neighbor, Transylvania, which was under Hungarian rule for centuries.

Surprise element: Hungarian dance is particularly known for its emphasis on unpredictable improvisation, which the company allows space for in its program. Nearly 10,000 dance variations, from 700 Hungarian villages, have been recorded.